Just Try

Let me make this clear.  I am not a pacifist. But perhaps I should be.

After all, didn’t Jesus say, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword”?[1] Today he probably would have said something like,  “Put your gun away, for all those who use a gun will die by someone else’s gun.”

And didn’t he say, “Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also”?[2] I cannot imagine how hard it would be to actually obey that instruction if someone hit me, whether on the cheek or anywhere else. I suspect I would have a very hard time doing that.

Jesus once asked a good question of his followers: “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”[3] The answer, of course, is that doing what Jesus told us to do is sometimes really hard.

It’s hard to love your enemies and to be kind to those who hate you.[4] It’s hard to judge ourselves instead of judging others.[5] It’s hard to just trust God to provide what we need instead of worrying about our survival and our comfort.[6] For some people, it’s hard to stay married and remain faithful to their spouse.[7]

But if we are truly followers of Christ, we have to at least try to do all of these things and more. That is what faith is all about. Faith is acknowledging that Jesus is our Lord—not a Lord, but our Lord. That means we owe him our allegiance and our obedience. It also means we believe, among other things, that he knows what is best for us, that he has our best interest at heart, and that we need to trust him like children trust their parents.

But what if we fail? (which we will) That’s where grace comes in. Grace means “unmerited favor.” God will forgive our valiant efforts when we try to do things his way and fall short. On the other hand, I know of no promise in the Bible that he will forgive us if we obstinately insist on doing the things we want to do instead of things God wants us to do—for that is exactly what sin is. Adam and Eve fell into sin because they wanted to “become like God”[8] instead of simply trusting God and obeying him.

So if you consider yourself a Christian, try always to do the things Jesus told us to do. Above all, that means loving God with all our hearts and loving others as much as we love ourselves.[9]

[1]. Matthew 26:52

[2]. Luke 6:29; see also Matthew 5:39

[3]. Luke 6:46

[4]. Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27 and 6:35

[5]. Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37

[6]. Matthew 6:25-34

[7]. Matthew 5:27-32

[8]. Genesis 3:5

[9]. Matthew 22:35-37, Mark 12:28-31